Sustainability of Digital Formats: Planning for Library of Congress Collections

The National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS) is the packaging mechanism for delivery of print instructional materials in accessible formats to blind or other persons with print disabilities in elementary and secondary schools. Pronounced NYE-mas, NIMAS is standardized via Appendix C of Part B of the U.S. Department of Education’s Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004. Under section 674(e)(4) of the Act, the NIMAS applies to print instructional materials published after July 19, 2006. An accessible format, in this context, is defined as "a copy of a work in an alternative manner or form that gives eligible students access to the work, including to permit the person to have access as feasibly and comfortably as a person without visual impairment or other print disability... Accessible formats produced from NIMAS may include braille, large print, digital audio, and a range of accessible digital text formats." The 2018 Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act (MTIA) was incorporated into section 121 of the U.S. Copyright Law (also known as the Chafee Amendment) to amend several of terms and provided new definitions, but left the fundamental activity the same. See History for more information.

Structure of NIMAS

IDEA Act, Part B, Appendix C states that "NIMAS-conformant content must be valid to the NIMAS 1.1 [see ANSI/NISO Z39.86 2005 or subsequent revisions]. In addition, files are required to use the tags from the Baseline Element Set when such tags are appropriate. Publishers are encouraged to augment the required Baseline Element Set with tags from the Optional Element Set (elements not included in the Standard) as applicable. For the purposes of NIMAS, appropriate usage of elements, both baseline and optional, is defined by the DAISY Structure Guidelines. Files that do not follow these guidelines in the selection and application of tags are not conformant to this Standard." Both optional elements and appropriate structure guidelines may be located within Z39.86-2002, link via Internet Archive, (see also Digital Talking Book 2002) and Z39.86-2005 which has an updated 2012 revision Z39.86-2005 (see also Digital Talking Book 2005).

NIMAS defines a set of files with the Baseline Element Set specifying the minimum requirement that must be delivered to fulfill the NIMAS. This set comprises:

• XML file compliant with ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005 (see History for more information) content file. NIMAS declares a set of required and optional elements from the NISO/Daisy specification including: document-level tags (dtbook: root element with the metadata in head and the contents itself in book; head: contains meta information about the book but no actual content of the book itself; book: encapsulates the actual content of the document, which is divided into additional tags frontmatter, bodymatter, and rearmatter;  meta: indicates metadata about the book.) Additional sets of required elements are specified for Structure and Hierarchy, Block Elements, Inline Elements; Tables and Images. The full set of required elements from NISO Z39.86 is listed on the NIMAS site (Appendix C of Part B). In addition to these required elements, the specification states that "publishers are encouraged to apply markup beyond the baseline (required) elements. The complete DTBook Element Set reflects the tags necessary to create the six types of Digital Talking Books and Braille output. Because of the present necessity to subdivide the creation of alternate format materials into distinct phases, the Panel determined that baseline elements would be provided by publishers, and optional elements would be added to the NIMAS-conformant files by third party conversion entities."
• valid XML OEBPS (Open Ebook Forum Publication Structure) 1.2 compliant package file. Must meet the following additional standards:
  • For Dublin Core elements: dc:Title; dc:Creator (if applicable); dc:Publisher; dc:Date (Date of NIMAS-compliant file creation—yyyy-mm-dd); dc:Format (=“NIMAS 1.0” for ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2002 or "NIMAS 1.1" ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005); dc:Identifier (a unique identifier for the NIMAS-compliant digital publication); dc:Language (one instance, or multiple in the case of a foreign language textbook, etc.); dc:Rights; dc:Source (ISBN of print version of textbook).
  • For x-metadata: nimas-SourceEdition (the edition of the print textbook); nimas-SourceDate (date of publication of the print textbook). Additional elements for facilitating recordkeeping, storage and file retrieval as well as for intended audience level were proposed but it's not clear if they are mandatory. An essential part of the package file is the mandatory manifest that lists of all files contained in the NIMAS file set, except for the OPF file itself.
• PDF of the title page as well as whichever page(s) contain(s) ISBN and copyright information. Note that NIMAS does not define a specific profile or version of PDF.
• a full set of the contents' images. The specification further states that "All of the images included within a work must be provided in a folder and placeholders entered in the relevant XML document indicating their location (all images must be included). The preferred image type is SVG, next is either PNG or JPG format. Images should be rendered in the same size/proportion as their originals at 300 dpi. Images should be named with relative path filenames in XML files."

According to Creating NIMAS Files from the National Center on Accessible Educational Materials (2021), "all NIMAS fileset components must be provided in a ZIP file. The naming convention for the NIMAS ZIP file is the Identifier." Each fileset component is listed in the manifest with its specific IANA media type (formerly known as MIME types) and follow the guidelines of Z39.86-2005 (section 3.3). See Identifiers for specific details.

Uses of NIMAS

IDEA 2004 mandated universal adoption of NIMAS because its flexibility and its adoption has significant impacts including that it: "facilitates the development of a national database of instructional materials; maximizes the availability and effectiveness of student-ready versions of instructional materials used in K-12 curricula; improves content quality because publishers provide the digital files; embeds easily into existing systems that serve students; and supports copyright indemnification for publishers and schools."

The National Instructional Materials Access Center (NIMAC) is the main distributor for NIMAS-compliant content: "NIMAC is a federally-funded, searchable online repository of source files for K-12 instructional materials. [NIMAC] receives files in the XML-based NIMAS (National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard) format, and states use these materials in the production of accessible formats such as braille, large print, and digital text. The NIMAC currently has over 70,000 files from more than 160 publishers." State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and other interested parties agree to direct publishers to provide NIMAS files to the NIMAC as a part of their adoption contracts or purchase agreements when acquiring student instructional materials. SEAs also agree to designate authorized users who will have access to the NIMAC repository on behalf of students in their state. These authorized users can search the NIMAC repository and directly download the NIMAS files they need or assign these files within the system to registered accessible media producers, to convert into accessible formats for use by eligible students in elementary and secondary schools.

NIMAC is the distributor for NIMAS-compliant content to authorized user groups. It includes "70,000 K-12 NIMAS files for use in the production of accessible formats for students with disabilities." Under IDEA, in order for students to be eligible for NIMAS-derived materials, they must: (1) be receiving special education services under IDEA and (2) meet the qualification criteria of the NLS statute.

There is no cost to use the NIMAC or to obtain NIMAS files through the NIMAC. However, there may be a cost to the SEA or LEA for having an accessible format produced and that will vary depending on the required format and the organization producing the format. Some NIMAS-sourced accessible formats are available at no cost to the SEA or LEA, while production of other formats or by other organizations may involve a cost.

No licensing issues related to the component file set. However, access to NIMAS content via NIMAC is limited by law. US Copyright law 17 U.S.C. § 121(d)(3) defines the parameters for an eligible person as one who, "regardless of any other disability — (A) is blind; (B) has a visual impairment or perceptual or reading disability that cannot be improved to give visual function substantially equivalent to that of a person who has no such impairment or disability and so is unable to read printed works to substantially the same degree as a person without an impairment or disability; or (C) is otherwise unable, through physical disability, to hold or manipulate a book or to focus or move the eyes to the extent that would be normally acceptable for reading." NIMAC further states that "only eligible students in elementary schools and secondary schools, under section 674(e)(2) and (3) of the IDEA, may receive accessible formats produced from NIMAS files from the NIMAC. In addition to being eligible under copyright law, students must be identified as eligible and served under the IDEA in order to receive NIMAS-sourced accessible formats. Students whose parents elect for them not to have an Individualized Education Program are not served under IDEA, and thus are not eligible to receive accessible formats produced from NIMAS files."

In addition, Section 306 of IDEA 2004, which amends the Copyright Act, provides publishers with the right to transfer electronic materials to the NIMAC as long as they possess the print rights to such materials. This protection is to ensure the delivery of materials for which electronic rights may not have been obtained or are simply not available. This protection does not apply to files delivered directly to SEAs and LEAs by publishers for the purpose of creating accessible formats for qualifying students.

As described in the October 2008 Technical Assistance Document from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, "NIMAS establishes a uniform electronic (or digital) format for textbooks and related materials called a source file. On its own, this source file (which is coded in Extensible Markup Language [XML]) is not sufficient for direct use; however, the source file is the means by which specialized, accessible formats are created-Braille, audio or digital text, and large print. These accessible formats can then be used by those who are blind or otherwise print-disabled." See also ANSI/NISO Z39.86-2005 and OEBPS (Open Ebook Forum Publication Structure) 1.2.

Good support. The MathML in DAISY Structure Guidelines provides guidance on the correct application of MathML to the XML element set in DTBook, a key component of the ANSI/NISO Z39.86 Standard to which DAISY and NIMAS conform. The MathML in DAISY Structure Guidelines details best practices in the application of MathML in the mark-up of instructional materials of the type commonly found in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary educational curricula.

The DAISY specification does indicate that the latest specifications of MathML should be used and the most recent version is MathML 3 from 2014.

To include MathML in a NIMAS fileset: in the XML source file the DTBook DTD must be updated to include both the MathML module and the actual math content encoded in MathML.

The 2018 Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act (MTIA), incorporated into section 121 of the U.S. Copyright Law, updated several definitions and terms of the IDEA and therefore, the NIMAS. In summary, the MTIA:

• "Expanded the types of works allowed to be copied from nondramatic literary works to all literary works, plus musical works fixed in the form of text or notation;
• Changed the term 'specialized formats,' the definition of which was limited to specific technologies, to 'accessible formats,' which is defined more broadly as an 'alternative manner or format' that allows an eligible person to have access to a work that is equivalent to a person without a disability and includes related illustrations integrated with the text or notation.
• Updated the beneficiaries of section 121, which were originally termed 'blind or other persons with disabilities,' to 'eligible person.'"

For the disability criterion of NIMAS eligibility, IDEA 2004 points to the US Copyright law 17 U.S.C. § 121(d)(3) which specifies the free national library program of reading materials for print-disabled individuals administered by the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled, better known as NLS, at the Library of Congress. As explained in NIMAS Eligibility Update: Marrakesh and the New NLS Guidelines from 2021, the MTIA has a ripple effect for other rules and statutes: MTIA caused Changes to US Copyright Law (Section 121 or Chafee Amedment); Copyright Changes required Updated NLS Guidelines; Updated NLS Guidelines forced Updated NIMAS eligibility criteria (and NIMAC agreements!).

The Library of Congress published the 2021 Code of Federal Regulation 36 CFR 701 Loans of Library Materials for Blind and Other Print-Disabled Persons which among other things, included the following list of professionals who may certify a student as eligible to receive NIMAS-derived materials: "Eligibility must be certified by one of the following: doctor of medicine, doctor of osteopathy, ophthalmologist, optometrist, psychologist, registered nurse, therapist, and professional staff of hospitals, institutions, and public or welfare agencies (such as an educator, a social worker, case worker, counselor, rehabilitation teacher, certified reading specialist, school psychologist, superintendent, or librarian)." MTIA removes the requirement for certification by a medical doctor for those with reading disabilities. Instead, these individuals may now be certified by the same persons who are authorized to certify other print-disabled individuals for participation in the program.